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I believe respect is the answer for moral world through the unity of all the races in the field of arts. Together, with mutual respect for our difference, we can create a world filled with empathy for one another. Red, Yellow, Black, and White our hearts all beat in same rhythm for peace and a better life, in arts.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

THE CREAM OF THE OLD MASTERS CROP

The cream of the Old Masters crop

Works by Constable, Rembrandt and Hans Baldung Grien come
to the block at Sotheby’s and Christie’s

By Paul Jeromack. Published online: 02 July 2012

London. Christie’s is due to offer a
splendid selection of works in its evening auction of Old Master paintings on 3
July, crowned by Carmen “Tita” Thyssen’s Constable, The Lock, 1824 (est
£20m-£25m), a last-minute addition to the sale.

The auction house received a consignment of 15 works from
the Pieter and Olga Dreesmann collection of 17th-century Dutch paintings in
early spring, including Rembrandt’s A man in a gorget and cap, 1626-27 (est
£8m-£12m), and The interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, Haarlem, 1658, by Pieter Jansz.
Saenredam (est £1.2m-£1.8m). These works acted as a powerful magnet for more
Dutch pictures, the most notable being a lush, beautifully preserved
masterpiece by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Flowers in a glass vase on a draped table,
with a silver tazza, fruit, insects and birds, late 1660s. The work’s estimate of
£1.2m to £1.8m seems curiously restrained, given that the painting has long
been acknowledged as one of De Heem’s masterpieces.

One of the other Dutch paintings in the sale is an
accidental discovery: a Christie’s representative in Paris went to visit a grand household in case
there were any worthwhile paintings tucked away. A thorough search yielded
nothing, and the disappointed representative was just about to leave when the
lady of the house said: “Oh, you might as well check this cabinet.” Inside was
Joachim Wtewael’s Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan, 1610, which has been
untraced since its acquisition by the family in around 1836.

Several fine pictures by Wtewael have been discovered in
recent years, most notably Adam and Eve, 1610-15, which brought a record price
of $6.2m at Sotheby’s New York
in January 2011. This season’s erotic masterpiece is related to earlier
compositions of the subject in the Mauritshuis and the Getty, and is
confidently estimated at between £2m and £4m.